How To Go From Stuck To Unstuck

When you feel stuck in your career, you often hesitate to make changes because you’re not sure what it is you want. Since you don’t have a clear idea about what you want, it’s easy not to take action, feel empowered or be enthusiastic about your work. And oftentimes, being stuck feels worse than being out of a job because you’re lost in the limbo of inaction.

Today I want to share 4 action steps you can take to help you stop feeling stuck and start moving forward.

1. Decide what it is you don’t want.

Feeling stuck in a career or situation can leave you feeling paralyzed and prevent you from figuring out the best way to move forward. In those situations where it becomes difficult to express what you want, it can be easier to decide what it is you don’t want. Those feelings are the most dominant in these situations and can help you reverse engineer a plan for how to move forward.

When you find yourself unable to decide what you want, start by asking yourself these questions.

What will you no longer settle for?

What needs to be removed?

What will you no longer allow?

2. Tell yourself the truth.

Being honest with yourself is challenging and it can be scary to face the truth. However, in order to move forward, you need to get rid of all the negative thoughts about what you should have or were supposed to do so you can focus on what you want.

Instead of thinking about your “should's” ask yourself:

If I could do anything, I would...

If I could do it all over again, I would...

If time, money, fear of failure wasn’t an obstacle, I would...

3. Know your “why”.

Your “why” is extremely powerful and knowing why you want to make a change is half the battle. This helps you stay focused on reaching your goals, doing things that align with your personal mission statement and finding a job that fulfills you.

Here are a few questions to think about to help uncover your “why”.

I want this because...

Doing this would make me happy because...

I want to make a change because I no longer want to...

Now that you’ve taken the time to think about what you don’t want, you’ve been honest with yourself and you’ve thought about your “why”, it’s time to take action!